38. Sisters

Ninomiya Sae

Sae was a sweet, sweet child. She was everyone's little ray of sunshine, a tiny, exploding ball of joy and happiness--

But the truth is, Sae had a little more than that.

"Well, of the three of you, I guess Sae resembles Mom the most." Yuuichirou had absent-mindedly said, lightly laughing as he answers his daughters' questions.

"What kind of person was Mom?" Sui had asked, her eyes gleaming with a sort of interest she rarely showed, eyeing Dad excitedly as she awaited her answer impatiently.

Dad placed a hand on Sui head, chuckling. "Mom started off sweet and shy, just like Sui," he said, smiling at his daughter. He lifted his head to look at Sae, "But when time came down to it..."

Her eyes were stuck on a low, murderous glower as low growling rumbled from her throat. Her fists were clenched tightly at the duvet covers, the fabric crumpled. Her head hung down, her bangs shadowed over her eyes and her hair scattered around her small frame--

Her head slowly turned to the right side of the bed-- to where Sui had been sleeping right beside her-- and she found it empty.

It was empty. Sui was not there, Sui was not there. Sui was not beside her. Sui was not-- Sui would never leave without her. Sae and Sui were always together.

Sae and Sui always had to be together.

A painful ache grew at her chest. A painful ache she just couldn't, couldn't, couldn't bear. She felt tears stream down her cheek one after another and another--

Sae whimpered.

"Sui," she cried, "Where are you?"

-------

Ninomiya Sui

"Ahh- what's all this?" Haru freaked out, wrapping her arms around Sui protectively.

Adult I-pin and Adult Lambo had suddenly shown up before them, declaring war on-- what on earth was that ugly looking, horror-movie worthy person thing?

Sui felt creeped out, more than scared.

The villain-looking thing looked really scary, and-- how long had he even been behind them? That thought alone gave Sui shivers down her spine.

But these two people... I wonder who they are. The female looked pretty, and wore clothes that looked... Chinese? Sui immediately thought of I-pin. The male wore a dress shirt with cow prints on the collar that reminded Sui of Lambo.

"Come on, Haru-san, Sui-chan." the male ushered them aside, "I-pin can take care of things here. Let's go to a safer place." he urged, calmly leading the two away.

I-pin? Sui wondered.

Sui was led by Haru and Lambo aside-- but a fighting call made her turn back in time to see the villain topple to the floor absolutely defeated.

She brimmed with excitement at the sight. That older sister defeated that guy! She's so cool!

(Hm? She was thinking like Sae now.)

Then Sui spotted something. Glinting due to the sunlight, beside the telephone pole was a... a purple calm shell. It looked oddly like hers... She turned towards her small bag and--

"Ah, my keychain fell off." she noticed.

"Hm?" Lambo perked up. "What's wrong, Sui-chan?"

Sui pointed at the object, "I dropped something," she explained. "I'll go get it." she informed, dashing off towards the telephone pole.

Lambo, for a moment tried to stop her, but sighed as he decided it'd be fine.

Sui picked up the clam shell. The souvenir she got from Rei-chan, that matched with Sae... She frowned as she realized that the attachment had broken, but maybe Dad can fix it. Dad always found ways to fix things, so...

Sui sighed and stood up. Well, for now I'll--

"Sui-chan!" I-pin's call came a moment too late.

Sui snapped her head back. The villain, who was supposed to be dead or unconscious or-- whatever-- had gotten up. And although he was still staggering, his warped and long, sharp clawed fingers was not an inch before Sui's face.

"Huh?"

-------

Drew Cite

"You're mad," Mukuro chuckled, although it sounded strained now.

Ninomiya Rei smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment." he said, his fist hitting through Mukuro. He stood back up, steadying himself. "Illusions?" he asked.

Mukuro reappeared behind him.

Drew dodged in time to avoid a fatal cut from the trident. A scratch was bleeding now at his side.

Woah, fuck- Drew noticed now. Rei had been fighting for five minutes with pure willpower spruced by adrenaline, moving only with the aid of Night Flames.

There was so, so much blood. Rei had stopped coughing a moment ago, but this-- this was just morbid.

He can't go on, Night Flames or not.

And so, Drew held up her hands. "Pause, pause." she chuckled.

Mukuro rolled his eyes, "What is it this time?" he groaned sarcastically.

Drew laughed. "It seems the main characters--" Just then, a large crash was heard under the floor, "Have at least met your fake by now..."

At that, he smirked. "Kufufu," he chuckled, "It seems I shouldn't even question the range of your knowledge now." he mused.

Well yeah, Drew. How the hell did you know about Lancia and the fake and all? You're genius.

"Don't you want a better seat to watch the show?" I suggested, a strained smile on my face. "It seems this body can't hold out for much longer, so I'm afraid I can't keep you company anymore."

Mukuro made his trident scatter away into the wind. He eyed me, studied me, as if trying to discern if this was a trick or a ploy.

"Very well then, I shall." he decided.

-----

I dropped to my knees the moment he left the room.

I breathed in. breathed out. Breathed.

I looked at the black wristband on my left hand. It was slightly soaked in something red, but I guess it didn't make a difference.

I gripped my left fist. The flame was still lit on the ring, so I closed my eyes and tried to focus.

C'mon, Night Flames. You're making my body move. You're making my bones stay together. If you can do that much, I'm not accepting the excuse that you can't do more!

The wound on my arm eventually stopped bleeding. I could slightly feel my blood flow with the help of the flames. I felt the warmth of body heat gather back up in me.

Just like that, I thought.

Just like that, to make sure Rei stays alive.

--------

Ninomiya Sui

When Sui saw a large hand in front of her, her first thought was about how huge it was. It was big enough to take the whole of her upper body in one grasp.

Cool and creepy.

But then the fact sunk in that those hands were deadly. That those dangerous hands are reaching right for her-- and she was the target of this horror movie plot point--

Panic rose-- and quickly died down.

Sui wasn't scared. This weird monster-- thinking about it, it isn't scary at all. It's just strangely designed-- yes, it's like a weird plush toy. Plush toys aren't anything to be wary of. So instead, she eyes it, with her usual, blank face--

Until a pair of feet kicks the monsters in the face.

The monster was taken by surprise, fell down headfirst onto concrete, and was probably unconscious by now.

The attacker flipped, then a somersault, and landed perfectly as if she was doing gymnastics. She stood back up, breathing a sigh of relief.

Sui smiled. "Sae!" she called happily.

Ninomiya Sae, her eyes sharpened in anger and irritation, turned to her younger sister angrily-- and immediately dived into her sister's chest, arms circling around her back quickly and tightening up in a hard, hard, hug.

"Suiiiiiii!" she whined.

-

Dad placed a hand on Sui's head, chuckling. "Mom started off sweet and shy, just like Sui," he said, smiling at his daughter. He lifted his head to look at Sae, "But when time came down to it..."

"She would always run to our aid, no matter what."